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W. H. MAXWELL. Insulated Telegraph Wire. No. 243,283. Patented June 21,1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEO iVILLlAM ll. MAXWELL, OF .PlllLlilPSBURG, ASSIGNOR OF T\V()-'J.HIRDS TO A. S. TOMPKINSON, OF PHILADELPIHA, PENNSYLVANIA.

INSULATED TELEGRAPH-WIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,283, dated June 21, 1881.

Application filed March 12, 1881. (N model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM II. MAXWELL, of lhillipsburg, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Insulated Telegraph-\Vires; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

lleretofore metal-incased insulated wire has been made by placing a wire in a glass tube and the glass tube in a wrought-iron tube, heating the whole, and then drawing it out to the required size and length in suitable rolls. This article has been open to the objection that 5 itis nearly if notquiteimpossible, in practice,

to use more than one wire, and that the glass inall cases is fractured or crizzled by the reheating and rolling operation, and that in case of any defect or leak in the outer casing admitting water or moisture the same will obtain access to the wire through the cracks or crizzles and destroy the insulation.

My invention is designed to overcome this difiiculty, and is aglass-insulated telegraph wire or wires having an external casing of cast-iron.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now describe it by reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which- Figure 1 is a view of my improved glassinsulated metal-incased telegraph-wire; Fig. 2, an illustration of one way of making it, and Fig. 3 another way of making it.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each.

My improved glassinsnlated metalincased telegraph-wire cable is shown in Fig. 1, in which a are the wires, which may be one or more,as desired; 1), the glass insulating layers,

and c the cast-iron casing. This article may be produced, as shown in Fig. 2, by the use of avertical partible or solid mold, d, havingaflaringn1outh,d, and a movingbottom, c, and sur- 4 5 rounded by a water-box, f, having water inlet,

outlet,and'draimpipesfflf ,andf The bottom 6 is perforated vertically, as at c. The wires a are in uniform length s, and arefastened to the bottom 0 by passing them through the perforations c, and then twisting the ends, as at 0 Small glass tubes bare slipped on the wires, covering them completely. The bottom is lowered in the mold a short distance below the flaring mouth, and the molten cast-iron is poured in from a suitable ladle or cupola, and when it rises nearly to the top the bottom is lowered slowly and steadily in the mold as the metal continues to flow in. The lower part of the casting hardens, and in case it is desired to make the section longer than the mold the bottom may be permitted to descend below the open end of the mold. If the column is too heavy to be properly supported by the wires, additional support may be given to it from below. To prevent the metal from adhering to the mold before the bottom begins to descend, liners of sheet-iron or other suitable material maybe placed inside of the mold at that portion of the upper end which is first filled, or the mold may be rotated on its vertical 7o axis. This method forms part of another application for patent.

Fig. 3 shows another mode of making the article. In it the wires a are stretched in a mold, g, which is also to be watercooled, with glass-tubes b upon them. The cast-iron is poured in through a pouring-gate, 71. The mold g may be of any desired form, and differs from the mold d in principle, in that it does not have a movable bottom, and that the arti- 8o cle cannot exceed in length the length of the mold. This article has the wires completely insulated by the glass tubes, and the cast-iron casing not only surrounds the whole bunch of wires, but penetrates and fills the interstices between the same. The molten iron softens and partially fuses the outer surface of the tube or tubes, so that the glass adheres to the iron when set, and the two become united and substantially integral. The structure of the go cast-iron is such that this union is properly eflected.

The advantages of my improved article are that the glassinsulating tubes are preserved from fracture, that the cast-iron sets in and 5 around and forms a union therewith, that the article can be molded in any shape, that any desired number of wires can be used, thatitisa glass, substantially as and fort-lie purposes (10- 1o scribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sei my hand.

WILLIAM H. MAXWELL.

Witnesses:

T. B. KERR, J. K. SMITH.

It i s-tn:re y certified thatin Letters Patent No. 243,283, granted June 21, I881, upon the applieation of William H. Maxwell, for an improvement in Insulated Telegraph-Wires, the name of the as signee of two-thirds interest was erroneously written and printed therein A. S. Tompkinson instead of A. S. Tomkinsonfl that the correct name is A. S; Tomkinson; that the proper corrections have been made in the files and records pertaining to the case in the Patent Ofliee, and arehemhy made in said Letters Petent.

Signed, eountersigned, a-nd'aea.led this 28th day of June, A. D. 1881. [SEAL] A A. BELL, Acting Secretary of the Interior. Oountersigned:

E. M. MARBLE,

Commissioner of Patents. 

